What I Like About My Life Right Now (besides having good bloggers to imitate)

By doing a blog post with the above title, I'm copying my daughter-in-law Jasmine, and Luci Martin, two of my favorites among the bloggers that I follow. One day this week, Jasmine posted an article with a similar title and the next day Luci took her idea and ran with it. Now I'm doing the same thing because I love the idea, too. And besides, what better time is there for me to describe my likes about life than during a month that includes two birthday parties for one-year-olds, and a trip to Jamaica?

1. I like watching multiple one-year-olds eat sweets for the very first time. Even though their mothers stayed on the healthy side of things for this momentous occasion by baking bananas and yogurt into the cupcakes and frosting them with plain whipped cream, the babies devoured the treat with great gusto. It was a pleasure to watch.

2. I like the fact that Ken and I are at a stage in married life where we can travel quite freely - after our children's first childhood and before our second childhood. I also like that we travel together whenever we can. I like that, even though we tend to do ditzy things in our travels, we still enjoy each other's company in exploring new places, we love to celebrate our anniversaries by "going away somewhere", and we both lean toward quiet, private resorts (even if they are quirky) above huge, glamorous ones. 

3. I like that we chose Jamaica for our international travel this year. I like the three-fold purpose of the trip: 1. To travel with "brother" Ruben and his wife Chris to visit their daughter Tenika who is an Auntie at a mission in Montego Bay. 2. To celebrate our marriage reaching 35 years old. 3. To visit some of Ken's Jamaican orchard workers in their home territory.

4. As shown in the following photo series, here are some things I like about my life in Jamaica right now:

I like the flowers. Their brilliance, uniqueness of shape, abundance, their tropicalness.

I like the birds and animals, mostly. (I did not like the sneaky rat I saw out of the corner of my eye in our bedroom at the mission!) From the "friendly" crocodiles, to the free range cattle and goats and mama chickens with their littles, to the zippitydoo geckos, to the scuttling crabs, to the bad-hair-day egrets, the tiny darting hummingbirds (and the fascinating long-tailed kind, too), all are unique and amazing in their own God-created way. 

I like the scenery - the many gorgeous and refreshing waterfalls, the patchworked mountainsides, the clouds being their best in the most tropic of blue skies, sunlight on the Caribbean waves by day and moonlight on the Caribbean swells by night, the phenomenal sunrises and sunsets.

I like the food. Fresh fruits chunked up or sliced on the spot, as topping added to a fruit crunch bowl or done up in colorful smoothies. Slow-grilled meat from The Pork Pit in Montego Bay, chicken in its various fried, curried, jerked and brown stewed forms, spicy whole boiled shrimp (if I can get past those black eyes looking up at me!), a most flavorful soup made from said shrimp and vegetables in a well-seasoned broth, new-to-me foods such as goat curry, festival, coco bread, and callaloo (Jamaican kale? actually, I could do fine without much of that), and rice and beans (called rice and peas, here) that you can get as readily as fries in Canada. And I must mention Jamaican patties! The flaky pastries pocketing beef or chicken and cheese are a special treat all their own. 

I like the encounters with people. 

*Traveling with Ruben & Chris for the first few days of our journey...sharing the delight of hanging out with their daughters...hiking up Dunn River Falls and experiencing the falls at The Blue Hole with them...learning about tropical fruits from Ruben who grew up in El Salvador...enjoying Chris finally getting her mango fix...taking turns cooking breakfasts with them.

* Having babies to cuddle and little people to talk to when I was missing my own grandchildren...one of the MK's at the mission, a precocious 6-yr-old girl, took to me immediately because I reminded her of her grandma - apparently I look like her, I sound like her when I talk, and of all the amazing things, my rough and cracked heels are even like hers! 

* Going to the Church of God next door to our resort on Sunday and meeting Skip and Janice, a couple from Oregon who live in Treasure Beach for three months out of every year. They were so friendly to us, and encouraging. Not only do we have our love of God and His people in common, but we ladies also share a love of amateur photography.

* Meeting Ken's orchard workers in their home territory was a definite highlight of the trip. I found it so fascinating to make little connections and to learn interesting pieces of the guys' stories. One of the young men has a twin sibling, just like I do. He and his identical twin brother have only one letter different in their names. He showed me pictures of the two of them doing music shows together. Another 40-yr-old worker is the youngest in his family and when he's not in Ontario picking apples for Martin's, he helps out his elderly parents by cooking food in the restaurant they began operating before he was born. When he was a toddler they'd bring him along to the restaurant and tie him on a leash so he wouldn't wander into the busy street out front while he played. Another worker is very polite; he refers to Ken as Chief, and he calls me The First Lady. We visited a young man and his wife and 2-year-old son in their very small and simple dwelling. These gracious hosts fed us whole, crispy fried fish, mini bananas, and fresh coconut jelly. A special connection with this couple is that in their burden of barrenness several years ago, Ken offered to join them in prayer. Within a year or so, God gave them a son and they are overjoyed. It was a blessing to talk with them about this prayed-for child who was playing right there in our presence.

* Spending time with the love of my life was, of course, the very best part of our whole Jamaica experience. Ken likes to ask couples how they met, and sometimes he asks them if they were to do it over, would they still choose the same partner? If I were to answer that question, I'd say a resounding yes. I'd choose him again, every time. Thirty-five years we've had together, and now we're going strong for the next thirty-five. That's what I like about my life right now. I like it very much!